This application claims the priority of commonly owned German patent application Serial No. 199 47 282.3 filed Sep. 30, 1999. The disclosure of the above-referenced German patent application, as well as that of each U.S. and foreign patent and patent application identified in the specification of the present application, is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to the making and confinement of groups of discrete commodities, such as arrays of plain or filter cigarettes or other types of rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. Typical examples of commodities which can be made and treated in accordance with the method and in the apparatus of the present invention are so-called soft and hinged-lid packs of plain or filter cigarettes. Therefore, this specification will discuss primarily the making and further processing of packs of cigarettes and of the contents of such packs but with the understanding that the invention can be practiced with equal or similar advantage in connection with the making and processing of containers for other discrete products of the tobacco processing industry as well as of commodities in fields of endeavor other than the making, packing and other modes of processing of smokers"" products.
It is customary to confine arrays of, e.g., five, ten, nineteen or twenty cigarettes in packets each of which is made of two or more layers of suitable wrapping material. For example, a so-called hinged-lid pack can contain an array of twenty cigarettes in the customary quincunx formation, an inner envelope of a metallic sheet material (such as tinfoil), a second envelope or box made of cardboard or plastic material and surrounding the array, the inner envelope as well as a customary stiffening collar, and an outermost envelope consisting of cellophane or other suitable transparent or translucent sheet material and often containing a so-called tear strip or tear tape. The outermost envelope surrounds the box and must be removed, at least in part, in order to afford access to the pivotable lid of the box.
It is becoming progressively more popular and more advisable to provide a technique of detecting the existence of forgeries, i.e., to establish a procedure which enables a person or an organization to ascertain whether or not commodities provided with the trademark(s) and/or other indicia denoting the products offered for sale by a reputable manufacturer of cigarettes or other types of grouped rod-shaped commodities are properly labelled or are products offered for sale or being sold by imitators. The detection of forgeries or the absence of requisite numbers of cigarettes in an array is rendered more difficult because a soft pack or a hinged-lid pack of cigarettes must be opened if an inspector or an apparatus is to gain access to the contents of the pack.
Otherwise stated, it is advisable to ensure that the information borne by the visible parts of a cigarette pack (i.e., the information at the exterior of that envelope or those envelopes which can be inspected without opening the pack) is truly indicative of the quantity and/or origin of the contents of the pack.
An object of the invention is to provide a method of facilitating the identification (such as the ascertainment of genuineness or lack of genuineness) of the contents of containers or receptacles or packets for discrete commodities or groups of commodities, such as arrays of cigarettes or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco procssing industry, without it being necessary to open the containers.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making and/or processing discrete commodities (such as plain or filter cigarettes) and/or their containers in such away that the genuineness or lack of genuineness of the products can be ascertained without it being necessary to destroy the containers and/or otherwise alter the condition (such as the appearance and/or the dimensions) of the containers.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel series of steps of associating the contents of cigarette packs or the like with the maker or makers of the contents and/or the containers in a simple, time saving and relatively inexpensive manner.
An additional object of the instant invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for the practice of the above outlined method.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a machine or apparatus which is constructed and assembled to make readily identifiable products, such as cigarettes or other types of rod-shaped commodities, namely products the origin of which can be readily ascertained without the need for affecting the integrity of the packs or other types of containers which confine and normally also conceal the products.
A further object of the invention is to provide novel and improved means for facilitating the identification of plain or filter cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products while the products are confined and concealed in packs and/or other types of receptacles or containers.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved attachment which can be associated with existing makers of rod-shaped smoker"" products for the purpose of facilitating the practice of the above outlined novel method.
An additional object of the invention is to provide rod-shaped smoker"" products, groups or arrays of such products, and packs or other types of containers or receptacles for such arrays, which render it possible to practice the above outlined method by resorting to the above outlined apparatus.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved technique of facilitating the detection of imitations of established smoker"" products.
A further object of the invention is to provide novel and improved filter mouthpieces for use in the making of filter cigarettes or other filter tipped smoker"" products.
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a method of facilitating identification of the contents of a container (such as a multiple-layer packet) for a group of commodities (such as an array of parallel rod-shaped smoker"" products). The improved method comprises the steps of providing the group with at least one identifying indicium, confining the group in a container, generating at least one signal which is indicative of the at least one indicium, encoding the at least one signal, and applying to the container at least one decodable symbol which is indicative of the encoded at least one signal.
As mentioned above, the group can constitute a block-shaped array of rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. The confining step can include draping the array into successive blanks of suitable wrapping material. Each blank can consist of a different wrapping material.
The at least one indicium can constitute a composite indicium, and the method wherein the providing step includes providing the group with a composite indicium can further comprise the step of making the commodities. The providing step can include furnishing or providing at least some of the commodities with portions of identifying indicia in the course of the making step (e.g., in the course of the step of making filter rod sections or filter mouthpieces which are thereupon assembled with plain cigarettes into filter cigarettes).
If the at least one indicium is a composite indicium, the providing step can include furnishing or providing at least some of the commodities with portions of a composite indicium. The signal generating step of such method can include generating at least one signal which is indicative of mutual positions of portions of the composite indicium in the group.
The container and the at least one identifying indicium can be of such nature that the indicium is detectable through the container. The signal generating step of such method can include monitoring the group subsequent to the confining step.
In accordance with one presently preferred embodiment of the improved method, the providing step can include applying to at least one commodity of the group at least one foreign object (e.g., a strip of a metallic material) which is detectable through the container.
Another feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a method of ascertaining the integrity of the contents of a container which confines at least one discrete commodity (e.g., a group or array or formation of parallel rod-shaped articles). The method comprises the steps of associating the at least one commodity with at least one identifying indicium, confining the thus identified at least one commodity in the container (e.g., in the box of a hinged-lid cigarette pack), monitoring the at least one identifying indicium to gather information denoting the thus detected identifying indicium, encoding the thus gathered information, and applying the encoded information to the container.
The monitoring step can be carried out subsequent to the confining step if the at least one identifying indicium is selected and associated with (e.g., applied to) the at least one commodity in such a way that it is detectable through the container (e.g., through several envelopes of a cigarette pack).
If the contents of the container consist of an array of rod-shaped smoker"" products, the associating step of the method can include providing at least some smoker"" products of the array with portions of a composite encoded information.
The associating step can include providing the commodity with a pattern of randomly distributed portions of a composite identifying indicium. The monitoring step of such method can be carried out prior to the confining step.
For example, the monitoring step can include ascertaining the position and/or the characteristics of the at least one identifying indicium.
When desired or necessary, the method can further include the steps of decoding the applied information and comparing the decoded information with the information obtained as a result of the monitoring step. Such monitoring step can include ascertaining the position of the at least one identifying indicium. Alternatively, the monitoring step can include generating a plurality of first signals, and such method can further comprise the step of generating a second signal which denotes the sum of the first signals; the encoding step of such method includes encoding the second signal.
The associating step can include associating the at least one commodity with an identifying indicium which is detectable through the container by at least one of a plurality of detectors including acoustic, electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic, high-frequency, microwave and X-ray detectors.
Still further, the associating step of the discussed method can include providing the at least one commodity with at least one internal and/or external identifying indicium or criterion. If the at least one commodity exhibits at least one criterion the presence or absence of which can be interpreted as an identifying indicium, the associating step can include depriving the at least one commodity of the at least one criterion.
A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an apparatus for facilitating identification of the contents of a container for a group of commodities at least one of which exhibits at least one identifying indicium. The apparatus comprises means for generating at least one signal which is indicative of the at least one identifying indicium, means for encoding the at least one signal, and means for applying to the container at least one decodable symbol which is indicative of the encoded signal or signals.
The apparatus can further comprise means for decoding the applied symbol or symbols, and means for comparing the decoded symbol or symbols with the at least one signal which was generated by the signal generating means.
The apparatus can also comprise means for providing the at least one commodity of the group with at least one feature which causes the at least one commodity to exhibit the at least one identifying indicium. In order to facilitate identification of the contents of a container for a group of nonmetallic commodities, the providing means can include means for combining the at least one commodity with at least one metallic particle (e.g., with a strip of a suitable metallic material). The nonmetallic commodities can comprise tubular envelopes, and the at least one metallic particle can be provided at (i.e., on or in) the envelope of the at least one commodity.
An additional feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a smoker"" product (such as a plain or filter cigarette, cigar, cigarillo or the like) which comprises a first portion (such as the rod-like tobacco filler and the tubular wrapper of a plain cigarette) and a second portion which constitutes at least one characteristic or identifying indicium for the first portion. For example, the second portion can constitute at least one piece (such as a strip) of a metallic material. In accordance with one embodiment, the product can constitute a filter cigarette, cigar or cigarillo, and its first portion can include or constitute a filter for tobacco smoke; the at least one piece of metallic material is or can be integrated into a haphazardly (i.e., randomly) chosen part of the filter.